


Insult to Injury

by veridium_bye



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Exalted Plains, F/F, Femslash, Injury Recovery, Public Display of Affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 18:07:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16164122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veridium_bye/pseuds/veridium_bye
Summary: Olivia gets injured during a skirmish out in the Exalted Plains. Normally, such a thing would gain little fanfare. But, when your lover is the Seeker of the Inquisition, people find out quick that if anything happens to you, it is quite in fact a big deal.





	Insult to Injury

It was as if everyone was trying to duck and cover out of an explosive’s direction when the Seeker came stomping down the line of tents in the northeastern Exalted Plains encampment. A curt report from the camp to their south told of a skirmish with neighboring bandits that got out of hand, causing several Scouts and one Mage to be injured in the process of fending off their encroaching violence. Once Cassandra had heard the last part, though, not even the Inquisitor could stop her from mounting a horse and heading off in the direction of the camp.

“Where is she?” she asked as she approached someone who looked to be a Healer, and their face became confused and intimidated to see the Seeker approaching her.

“My Lady, whom are your referring to?”

“The Mage – I mean, Olivia. Where is she being kept?”

“Oh!” the Healer grinned, “Olivia! She is resting in the tent over there, but you can feel free to check on her.”

Cassandra turned to look at the tent the Healer was referring to, before eyeing her once more. “Is she alright? What are her injuries?”

The Healer rested her hands on her hips, watching as several Inquisition personnel cautiously walked on by, seeming to be hesitant to exist around the Seeker’s presence. “She has a couple knife wounds, from a broad blade. But, we were able to cease the bleeding, and stitch her up quickly. She was a most stoic patient, you know.”

Cassandra exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of her head as she felt anxiety brooding in her body. “So, she will be alright?”

“Yes, quite right, actually. No fears except for possible infection, but that comes with the territory.”

“Good. Thank you,” Cassandra breathed, nodding to her in stern gratitude as she withdrew from the Healer’s company. She then hurried in her walking pace to the tent, her body less dexterous underneath her full Seeker’s armor. Coming to the closed tent drape, she wasted no time in opening it, careful not to lead the overbearing sun in too quickly so as to disturb her if she were sleeping.

When she peered inside, she saw Olivia’s body laying lightly on her back, legs curled to the right. She had her hair collected in a loose braid that rested across her pillow, one hand across her abdomen and one tucked up underneath her head. She had her breeches on, but not much else: the bandages wrapped around her torso and her left upper arm clued into where the knife wounds had struck her. Cassandra slipped in through the narrow opening she made for herself, letting the curtain fall back behind her.

Sensing the presence of someone, Olivia’s eyes opened, and a broad grin broke her cover for “sleeping.”

“I thought I heard you hammering nails with your words out there,” Olivia said, her voice hoarse from being through her ordeal.

Cassandra felt her stomach flip, self-conscious now about the way she had entered the camp. She couldn’t help it, though: hearing Olivia had been wounded in combat with her not there, even if it was not life-threatening, filled her with a protective dread. She remembered how the Inquisitor looked when she gave her the report: the face of smug knowing, and empathy. Theia would have ridden a horse across an frozen, endlessly deep lake in order to get to Josephine if the roles were reversed. She would hardly think to get in the way of her friend.

“I…I came as soon as I could. How are you feeling?” Cassandra said softly, coming to her side and crouching down to be level with her gaze.

Olivia didn’t move, her body was sore and she could still feel the resonating pain from the sutures. It wasn’t exactly a dream come true to have to endure cauterization and stitches in the same morning, but, she had proven her grit. The sweetness in her eyes and her grin made up for her lack of animation.

“I am fine. They have me on the good stuff,” she cleared her throat gently, adjusting how her cheek rested on her pillow. “It was a foolish ordeal, I can’t believe I ended up with all this.”

“What happened? The report said little about the actual conflict,” Cassandra lowered herself to sit down on the ground, and she leaned up against the cot alongside her, an arm moving up so she could place her hand on Olivia’s head, gently resting her hold on her head of golden hair.

Olivia took a breath, shallow so as to not disturb the sensitive nature of her stomach.

“Bandits were antagonizing our Scouts, so I went out with a small party to handle them. Everything was going according to plan, but, they had reinforcements we did not expect. Just as I was getting the hang of things, one rushed me. I had to do the most ridiculous flip in order to escape with only these wounds.”

Cassandra smirked, imagining Olivia’s flexible body dodging offensive maneuvers like they were child’s play. The humor was curbed, though, by her imagining that some of them struck home.

“I should not have left you here alone. The region is still overtly hostile,” Cassandra chided herself out loud.

“Cassandra, I am not a small child you must take care of. I am quite capable. You forget that I have sliced my way through half of a Chevalier’s contingent before,” Olivia swallowed a meager amount of spit, her dry mouth a symptom of the medicines she had been given. She took a mental note of it, so as to work on something to remedy the side effect once she was returned to Skyhold.

Cassandra checked herself, hearing Olivia’s words. Her protectiveness couldn’t overbear Olivia’s ability to fend for her own life, something she had proven in spades over the last several years of her life.

“Forgive me – I’m only regretting that you were injured. You know how I am,” Cassandra’s tone ached with adoration, something Olivia was weak to. She could easily forgive such a vice, caring too much for a lover who is in the thick of danger.

“Yes, I do know. Which is why when they asked if I wanted a sleep aid, I said not yet, because my love was most surely going to storm the countryside to see me look like a wounded animal,” Olivia’s self-deprecating humor hinted to her fatigue. Sleep aids weren’t necessary to her, she felt the temptation of rest more than enough. Though, she was stubborn in her anticipation of Cassandra’s arrival enough to hold off.

Cassandra blushed slightly, her hand stroking the side of Olivia’s head, feeling the resonating moisture of sweat in its strands.

“What do you need of me, then? You have my undivided attention for the next hour, surely.” Cassandra’s workload in the Plains was hefty, but it could wait a bit, if it meant ensuring Olivia’s security and comfort.

At that, Olivia smirked. “Even if I asked you to gather every ounce of elf root in the Plains?”

“Yes, though, I will admit it will be a bit arduous. The Inquisitor has an ego for such things; she swears it is she who has gathered the most elf root in all of Thedas.”

Olivia shook her head ever-so-slightly. “You two, always competing for the most arbitrary trophies.” She then tried to adjust her position, but winced when the muscles surrounding her abdominal wound sent a jerk of pain up her back. Her eyes closed as she moved her legs to lay straight. Meanwhile, Cassandra had halfway jumped into action, gesturing too slow for Olivia’s tastes.

“I’m okay, Cassandra, I won’t break,” Olivia huffed, finding a comfortable-enough resting position and quieting her body. This wouldn’t be a recovery from a sore muscle or pulled tendon, and it made her impatient already.

“I know that well enough. Nothing breaks you, that is why you are the only woman for me.”

Olivia tucked her chin against her shoulder, her eyes flickering open again as she gazed at her love. She grinned on one side of her lips, and reached a hand to gently take hold of Cassandra’s; her bare fingers and palm embracing her lover’s thick glove.

“Thank you for coming, my Love. I am honored to have the Seeker of the Inquisition be my recovery bed companion, at least for the time being. I need nothing else.”

Cassandra gave a soft smile, her hand intertwining her fingers with hers and gently squeezing with her grip. As long as Olivia was safe, and her wounds were cared for, that was all that mattered to her in this moment in time. The Inquisition could stand by, surely the affairs of a world-altering organization could carry on for the next hour or two without her.

“How bad did it hurt when they burned the wound?” Cassandra asked, speaking from experience with such unsavory things.

“Ugh, it was awful. I had to bite down on someone’s jacket, the poor thing. I’m sure I will need to send a token of gratitude, or perhaps a new jacket.”

Cassandra chuckled. “You would do well to not use people’s bodies as braces for pain. Try a block of wood next time, perhaps.”

“You seem to like it when I use you for one. Though, it’s when I’m enduring something far more pleasurable than a molten hot blade to my flesh.”

Cassandra scoffed. “Olivia, what medicine do they have you on?”

“Just pure love and wit, my Darling. Those concoctions can smooth over any injury,” Olivia bit down on her lip to prevent herself from laughter, which in any other case would be painless joy, but not now. She eyed Cassandra with a whimsical mischief in her eyes. Clearly, her prognosis was stellar.

“Fair enough,” Cassandra held the back of Olivia’s hand to her lips, kissing it lovingly as she gazed back at her. “You might wish to sleep now. It is good for recovery.”

“No,” Olivia sighed lightly, “I know I’ll be bitter when I wake up and you have gone. I can stay awake for a while longer and survive just fine.”

Cassandra blinked, and her smile reappeared. “My Love, it is alright. I will be here when you awake. I would not move from this spot, if you so demanded it.”

Olivia’s eyes flickered open and close, the sleepiness in her body making itself known. “But…how can you promise that?”

“Well, my Love, such advantages are known when you consider the Inquisitor a friend as much as a colleague. I am sure she will forgive such behavior.”

Olivia let her eyes shut gently, her dimpled smile relaxing. “Fine then, Seeker, but you mark my words: if I feel this hand be let go of, I will show you the wrath the man who did this to me had to endure before he died at my hands.”

Cassandra’s heart relaxed as she watched Olivia finally give into sleep.

“I would not dream of such a terror, my Love.”


End file.
